1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a system and method for measuring and testing nanoscale devices or materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system that allows for near-field scanning with various sensors or energy sources on a common platform to make nanoscale electrical and physical measurements or isolate nanoscale faults.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various electrical and physical measurement techniques can be used to analyze an object having electrical properties (e.g., a chip, a die, an integrated circuit, a device or a material) and to possibly provide information about its operation and/or its condition. For example, various integrated circuit (IC) physical fault isolation tools include laser scanning tools (e.g., Laser Scanning Microscopy (LSM) or Laser Assisted Device Alteration, (LADA)), thermal imaging tools (e.g., Thermal Induced Voltage Alteration (TIVA)), light emission tools (e.g., Light Induced Voltage Alteration (LIVA)), and tools that measure electrical activity in operating integrated circuits (e.g., electron beam probing or Electron Beam Test (EBT), Laser Voltage Probing (LVP), magnetic field or magnetic force microscopy, Photon Emission Microscopy (PEM), Time Resolved Emission (TRE), Picosecond Imaging Circuit Analysis (PICA), etc.). However, the technology associated with these various physical fault isolation tools has generally reached fixed limits in sensitivity and spatial resolution. Specifically, such physical fault isolation tools are rapidly becoming obsolete for one hundred nanometer IC devices or materials and smaller.
Scanning probe systems are also used to make measurements on a variety of devices or materials. However, when an external electrical energy or bias is required such scanning probe systems are limited to use on objects that have connection points that are large enough to be soldered or wire-bonded. They are also limited to use on objects that have connection points that are far enough from the area of interest so as not to physically obstruct a probe that must be scanned very near the surface of the object. Further, such scanning probe systems are limited to acquisition with one such scanned probe at a time, or on one separate instrument at a time, such that data acquired with a first probe or instrument is not spatially registered and aligned with data acquired from subsequent probes or instruments, such that features contained within a signal from one sensor cannot be exactly correlated with features contained within signals from other sensors. Thus, there is a need for an improved nanoscale fault isolation and measurement system having a number of scanning probes capable of different electrical and physical measurements. The improved system should be capable of being electrically connected to nanoscale circuit nodes and have high sensitivity and nanoscale spatial resolution. Lastly, the improved system should allow for a variety of different measurements to be taken from a common platform so that data acquired by any probe is automatically exactly spatially registered and aligned with data from any other probe.